--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That clean but lonely feeling when there…" description: "\"“That clean but lonely feeling when there are no other cars. The traffic lights changing just for you.”\" — Don DeLillo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/319/don-delillo-294_alienation_that-clean-but-lonely-feeling-when-there_1239989.jpg" --- # That clean but lonely feeling when there are no other… ![“That clean but lonely feeling when there are no other cars. The traffic lights changing just for you.” quote by Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/319/don-delillo-294_alienation_that-clean-but-lonely-feeling-when-there_1239989.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/319/don-delillo-294_alienation_that-clean-but-lonely-feeling-when-there_1239989.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/319/don-delillo-294_alienation_that-clean-but-lonely-feeling-when-there_1239989.jpg) > ““That clean but lonely feeling when there are no other cars. The traffic lights changing just for you.”” [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes the eerie solitude of being alone on a road, where traffic signals seem to pause for you. **In simple terms:** Lonely traffic light moment. Key Takeaway Find calm in solitary moments. Themes loneliness urban solitude mindfulness Mood contemplative quiet Type literary poetic When to use this quote - night drives - urban walking - meditation Key Concepts perception time perception Questions to Reflect On - What does solitude reveal? - How do you feel when alone? A Different Perspective May romanticize isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alienation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alienation/) [Hysteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hysteria/) [Libra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libra/) [Lonely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonely/) [Lonely feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lonely-feeling/) [Modernity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernity/) ## Related quotes > [“Something about the time of year depressed him deeply. Overcast skies and cutting wind, leaves falling, dusk falling, dark too soon, night flying down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/something-about-the-time-of-year-depressed-him-deeply-overcast-skies-2/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Sounds like a boring life." 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A dripping thing trying to clutch to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/billy-tried-to-imagine-the-birth-of-cyril-s-wife-s-baby-it-would/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“All uncleanness seems washed clean in its lonely stretches ; the life-giving sun and ardent air must still bring singular joy, the eager morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mabel-loomis-todd/all-uncleanness-seems-washed-clean-in-its-lonely-stretches-the-life/) Mabel Loomis Todd > [“He picks up speed and seems to lose his gangliness, the slouchy funk of hormones and unbelonging and all the stammering things that seal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo-underworld/he-picks-up-speed-and-seems-to-lose-his-gangliness-the-slouchy-funk/) Don Delillo Underworld > [“She wanted to stay focused, one thing following sensibly upon another. 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There’s a little town of houses that have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-destefano/the-abandoned-traffic-lights-stare-at-us-like-empty-eye-sockets/) [Lauren DeStefano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-destefano/) > [“The people were all busy in their cars, listening to the radio, so there was no one to smile at, so I just sent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/the-people-were-all-busy-in-their-cars-listening-to-the-radio-so/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [If one would cancel all traffic rules and switch off all traffic lights, watching city traffic on TV would be also awfully interesting!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oleg-romanishin/if-one-would-cancel-all-traffic-rules-and-switch-off-all-traffic/) Oleg Romanishin > [We don't have shopping centers or traffic lights or anything like that, where I live at least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-hemsworth/we-don-t-have-shopping-centers-or-traffic-lights-or-anything-like/) [Liam Hemsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-hemsworth/) > [A man sits in his car at the traffic lights, waiting for them to go green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-frayn/a-man-sits-in-his-car-at-the-traffic-lights-waiting-for-them-to-go/) [Michael Frayn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-frayn/) > [I wish falling in love had traffic lights, so that I would know if I should go for it, slow down, or just stop!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-tweeny/i-wish-falling-in-love-had-traffic-lights-so-that-i-would-know-if-i/) Grace Tweeny ## More by Don DeLillo > [“We all know how the thing we secretly fear is not a secret at all but the open and eternal thing that predicts its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/we-all-know-how-the-thing-we-secretly-fear-is-not-a-secret-at-all-but/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Everything is barely weeks. Everything is days. We have minutes to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/everything-is-barely-weeks-everything-is-days-we-have-minutes-to-live/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The novel is the dream release, the suspension of reality that history needs to escape its own brutal confinements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-novel-is-the-dream-release-the-suspension-of-reality-that-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“As I listened I thought a featureless baggy man was striking me in slow motion with a well-polished stone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/as-i-listened-i-thought-a-featureless-baggy-man-was-striking-me-in/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Murray said, 'I don't trust anybody's nostalgia but my own. Nostalgia is a product of dissatisfaction and rage. It´s a settling of grievances between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/murray-said-i-don-t-trust-anybody-s-nostalgia-but-my-own-nostalgia-is/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“She is beginning to think it is possible that all creation is a spurt of blank matter that chances to make an emerald planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/she-is-beginning-to-think-it-is-possible-that-all-creation-is-a-spurt/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Those who have abandoned belief must still believe in us. They are sure that they are right not to believe but they know belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/those-who-have-abandoned-belief-must-still-believe-in-us-they-are/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“The plane had lost power in all three engines, dropped from thirty-four thousand feet to twelve thousand feet. Something like four miles. When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-plane-had-lost-power-in-all-three-engines-dropped-from-thirty/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Grass: I live in a great steel tower that reflects the blazing sun. People catch fire just walking by. The more bodies that pile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/grass-i-live-in-a-great-steel-tower-that-reflects-the-blazing-sun/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“What people discard could make a nation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/what-people-discard-could-make-a-nation/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“Marriage is something we make from available materials. In this sense it’s improvised, it’s almost offhand. Maybe this is why we know so little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/marriage-is-something-we-make-from-available-materials-in-this-sense/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/the-true-life-is-not-reducible-to-words-spoken-or-written-not-by/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [I've come to think of Europe as a hardcover book, America as the paperback version.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-ve-come-to-think-of-europe-as-a-hardcover-book-america-as-the/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [There is a set of balances and rhythms to a novel that we can't experience in real life. So I think there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-a-set-of-balances-and-rhythms-to-a-novel-that-we-can-t/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [“There is no lie in war or preparation of war that can't be defended. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/there-is-no-lie-in-war-or-preparation-of-war-that-can-t-be-defended/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) [Explore all 699 Don DeLillo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## More Alienation quotes > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Everyone who lived in high-up, magical places must feel the same way. You come down into the world and you mingle, but all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arjum-hasan/everyone-who-lived-in-high-up-magical-places-must-feel-the-same-way/) Arjum Hasan > [“If his long day were lived in a European novel, he'd become "D" when on the run or near disappeared.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-kudera/if-his-long-day-were-lived-in-a-european-novel-he-d-become-d-when-on/) [Alex Kudera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-kudera/) > [Perhaps a creature of so much ingenuity and deep memory is almost bound to grow alienated from his world, his fellows, and the objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/perhaps-a-creature-of-so-much-ingenuity-and-deep-memory-is-almost/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“She would not say of anyone in the world now that they were this or were that. She felt very young; at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-would-not-say-of-anyone-in-the-world-now-that-they-were-this-or/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The universe must be experienced as the Great Self. Each is fulfilled in the other: the Great Self is fulfilled in the individual self,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/the-universe-must-be-experienced-as-the-great-self-each-is-fulfilled/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [“We are accustomed to think of ourselves as a great democratic body, linked by common ties of blood and language, united indissolubly by all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/we-are-accustomed-to-think-of-ourselves-as-a-great-democratic-body/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“Alienation produces eccentrics or revolutionary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-holzer/alienation-produces-eccentrics-or-revolutionary/) [Jenny Holzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-holzer/) > [“A consequence of this alienation of humans from their own nature is that they are also alienated from each other. Productive activity becomes ‘activity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/a-consequence-of-this-alienation-of-humans-from-their-own-nature-is/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [I feel what they feel: man-hating, that volatile admixture of pity, contempt, disgust, envy, alienation, fear, and rage at men. It is hatred not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-levine/i-feel-what-they-feel-man-hating-that-volatile-admixture-of-pity/) Judith Levine > [Part of the gestation of 'The Wall' was this business of alienation from the audience, and so the interesting thing was, what 'The Wall'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-mason/part-of-the-gestation-of-the-wall-was-this-business-of-alienation/) [Nick Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-mason/) > [“Most of her friends owned laptops and seemed to spend more time with their phones than anything else. 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Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance-2/) [Browse all 392 Alienation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alienation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That clean but lonely feeling when there are no other cars. 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